He's asking how do you prefer your headphones to sound. Since you listen to a range of things, you may not entirely be sure. That's fine. Nothing like trying out a lot of different cans to figure out what your preferences are. That's what I did (and continue to do). If you're really trying to get portable, there are some great, highly efficient, over-ear cans out there that don't require any amp at all to sound good. Start with the Logitech UE 6000, V-Moda M100, Sony MDR-1R, and Sennheiser Momentum. The Momentum is slightly out of your price range, but you should just hear it because it may make you want to up your budget that slight amount.

I'm really interested in those Momentum... I saw the other day one guy in the subway with them, should have asked him to try them, he talked me really well about them.

I've heard all these but the lp2 (but have heard m100) and I'd rate their sound quality as: K550>SRH840>M50>M100. All have good sound isolation.

So get the K550 unless you want emphasized bass and don't mind slightly smaller soundstage, in which case you should get SRH840 which deliver amazing sq for the price. SRH840 perform very well without amplification (sorry, haven't played with K550 with different amps). If you want serious bass, the latter two will give it to you in spades and still sound great.

I apologise for taking a while to respond. The music I tend to listen to is very diverse. I'm now tending away from the K550 for the apparent lack of lows and generally not very good for bass. It is now down to the SRH840 and the M50, I would like a decent amount of bass. I listen to a wide variety of music varying from classical to dubstep. I also read something about the durability of the SRH840s not being very good (can someone either advise me on this).Any final advice for deciding between these two cans?

I'm looking for new headphones, but unfortunately I'm 100% noob when it comes to this stuff. I've never managed to buy good headphones, always it was or crapy sound or they broke after few months. I need heaphones for games (but I'm not really competetive FPS player) and music (almost all kinds of rock and metal). My sound card is Asus Xonar DX (bought it cheap from friend). Unfortunately I can only spend up to 100$ for them. Yes, I know it's very little, but I have too much expenses recently. For reference I'm using right now AKG K512, and I don't like them, they are very uncomfortable. I can have them on my head for like 30 minutes, after that my ears just start to hurt. I have big head and not that small ears.

Hopefully you can help me.

Among the best cans that are about $100 or less and don't need an amp are: the CAL!, Alessandro MS-1, KRK KNS 6400, Audio Technica ATH-AD700 and Sony MDR-7506 or 7510. With an amp add the AKG K 240 (Studio & Mk II) and Koss Koss ProDJ 100 family (with M50 ear pads). For games the open and semi-open cans will probably serve you best.

Once again I’ll mention that headphone comfort is a very individual thing. We can point you to headphones that are generally considered to be comfortable and mention others that have garnered complaints for being uncomfortable. However, the only way to know for sure is to wear them yourself for a time equivalent to your longest listening session.

Yea, that's the problem, we don't have any places in sweden where you can listen to these headphones and im new to the headphone world so i don't know my flavour yet, guess i just have to pick one and hope for the best.
Is it worth stepping up to the he-500:s?

Yea, that's the problem, we don't have any places in sweden where you can listen to these headphones and im new to the headphone world so i don't know my flavour yet, guess i just have to pick one and hope for the best.
Is it worth stepping up to the he-500:s?

For me the answer is "yes", but it won't be the same for everyone. To my ear the HE 500 is the lowest price can where "all of it is there" and you have it in a neutral package. That is why the 500 is widely praised as an all genre master. However, it is heavy and clamps a bit. Further, it is a luxury that (believe it or not) not everyone can afford or will agree is worth $700.

For me the answer is "yes", but it won't be the same for everyone. To my ear the HE 500 is the lowest price can where "all of it is there" and you have it in a neutral package. That is why the 500 is widely praised as an all genre master. However, it is heavy and clamps a bit. Further, it is a luxury that (believe it or not) not everyone can afford or will agree is worth $700.

The HE-5LE is also $700 and is quite a bit better (true to source) than the HE-500, but the trick is finding one for sale Edited by brunk - 3/6/13 at 11:25am

Hi! I was a noob and posted a thread about this but I've been looking for some headphones around $300. I'm mostly going to use it to listen to music on my iPhone, but I really want good quality as I'm an avid music fan. Thanks!

I apologise for taking a while to respond. The music I tend to listen to is very diverse. I'm now tending away from the K550 for the apparent lack of lows and generally not very good for bass. It is now down to the SRH840 and the M50, I would like a decent amount of bass. I listen to a wide variety of music varying from classical to dubstep. I also read something about the durability of the SRH840s not being very good (can someone either advise me on this).Any final advice for deciding between these two cans?

I think if you don't like the K550 because of the lack of bass, you aren't going to like the SRH840 either. Those and especially its successor, the SRH940, are very analytical closed-back cans. If fact, I didn't even really enjoy the K550 and its bass until after I listened to the two Shures. After listening to them, I really appreciated the K550 more.

Hi! I was a noob and posted a thread about this but I've been looking for some headphones around $300. I'm mostly going to use it to listen to music on my iPhone, but I really want good quality as I'm an avid music fan. Thanks!

Are you OK with open cans (they leak sound)?

What equipment will be powering these cans? Will you be using an amp?

What is the format of your music and other sounds you will putting into these cans?

Describe the sound signature that you are seeking?

If you don't know your preferred sound signature (and even if you do), what genres of music do you plan to run through these cans?

What is the format of your music and other sounds you will putting into these cans?

Other than fast and clear, describe the sound signature that you are seeking?

I have a Denon PMA-520AE amp, NAD DAC1 and I play most of my music via the computer. So nothing fancy. Don't have a headphone amp yet, but considering buying one. Format is FLAC or 320 kbps. Tbh I'm not too sure on what kind of sound signature I'm looking for; I haven't tried that many headphones in my days. But apart from fast and clear, I do like some soundstage and a bit of warmth, although nothing muddy.